It’s December, for those of you who might not have noticed. The start of the Christmas month. Time to open the first door on the advent calendar. If you’re anything like my nephew Conor, it’s also time to open the second, third, fourth and fifth. Well, there is chocolate to be had.
And of course, the end of NaNoWriMo for another year. I finished on a bit of a high this year, getting sixty thousand words of a first draft out by ten pm yesterday at which point my brain and hands gave up and insisted I drink wine and watch the end of Face/Off.
But this is a great start. Notice the stress there. Most people doing Nano hammer away crazily for a month, then put what they’ve done away and don’t build on it. I’m as guilty of this as anyone. And it’s a waste. I reckon I have five grand left before I can stick “The End” on Pirates Of The Moon. Or in this case, “The Armstrongs, Arty and Quiddity will return…” in the best tradition of all the Bond movies.
Because the characters are growing and changing as I write them, and a continuation of the story is gathering at the back of my head even as I shape the end of the first place. I do believe I may have an honest to goodness trilogy on my hands.
However, first things first. Pirates gets done, and then I will honour the results of my poll and finish off another draft. At the moment my dieselpunk epic The Prisoner Of Soho is in the lead. I’ll keep the poll open until Saturday morning (at some point during Saturday Kitchen while Masterchef is on, probly) so get yer votes in if you want a say in what I do next!
It’s been a great November but time, and the writing, goes on.
Oh, and just so you don’t think it’s all wine and roses and happy creativity here, let’s finish with this year’s NanoSnark, from the brilliant Ariana Osbourne, which I love to bits because it absolutely PROVES MY POINT.
EXCUSES AND HALF TRUTHS 